By Steve Habel/Senior Editor
There usually is a 24-hour rule in college football; that’s the time a team is given to re-live the glory of a win or mull over what went wrong in a loss after a game each week.
But after Texas beat Kansas 59-20 last Saturday, Longhorns’ coach Charlie Strong cut that lag time in half and started focusing almost immediately on his team’s preparation for West Virginia, this week’s opponent and the latest — and perhaps most important — road test of the 2015 season.
“We didn’t even bother to show the team [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]the highlights from the Kansas win yesterday when we had our workout,” Strong said. “We just recognized a few players that had good games and moved straight into our preparation for West Virginia.
“Usually we don’t get into the game plan for our opponents until Tuesday, but we understand how important this game is and for us to play better than we have so far on the road this season.”
That’s an understatement; Texas has room for miles of improvement in its work for the road. The Longhorns (4-5, 3-3 in Big 12 Play) have been woeful in “true” road games this season (not counting the win over Oklahoma in Dallas). They’ve lost all three by a margin of 112-10, but Strong said Monday during his weekly media availability that Texas would not change anything as far as its preparation for Mountaineers.
“It’s not our routine that needs to be changed — it’s our focus and that work has to come this week in practice and be solid up until we take the field in Morgantown,” Strong said. “We need to practice every day with energy, passion and emotion and take that with us into the game. We need to play with confidence.”
Texas has three games remaining on its regular-season schedule: this Saturday at West Virginia, Thanksgiving night at home against Texas Tech and Dec. 5 at Baylor.
With the Longhorns needing wins in two of its final three games to be eligible for a bowl game, Strong said he didn’t need to remind his players about the importance of this game.
“We didn’t have to say too much to those guys yesterday — they were already zoned in,” Strong said. “It’s our job, as coaches, to keep pushing them and reminding them about how to prepare for and play each game. We want to keep the momentum going that we built (against Kansas), but we are not going to dwell on that win.”
Other items gleaned from the Longhorns’ press conference Monday:
• Strong said his team is healthy with the exception of fullback Alex De La Torre. De La Torre will be evaluated as the week progresses and could play against West Virginia. When questioned about linebacker Malik Jefferson, who has missed the start of the past two games with an upset stomach, Strong said, “Malik will be ready.”
• Kickoff for the Baylor game Dec. 5 has been set for 11 a.m. at McLane Stadium in Waco. The game will be televised on either ABC or ESPN.
• Since installing the “18-Wheeler” package for the Oklahoma State game (Sept. 26) and not counting the TCU game (Oct. 3), quarterback Tyrone Swoopes has amassed 216 yards on 28 carries for an average of 8.3 per rush.
• Talk about a balanced offense: Texas had exactly the same yardage rushing (299) as passing (299) against Kansas.
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